If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Im going to give it a go ,,,, my hands kill me so much I have a hard time sleeping or doing any thing with my hands <<<<< last year i got stung right on the finger and I had less pain ,,,,,, looking forward to the girls doing there thing on me <<<< now it will be a win win <<<<<< I never thought I would look forward to getting stung
the kid

Im going to give it a go ,,,, my hands kill me so much I have a hard time sleeping or doing any thing with my hands <<<<< last year i got stung right on the finger and I had less pain

Since you've already had some evidence of effectiveness, this sounds like a sure thing for you.

What my mom did was to set a jar of bees on her hand to let them sting her. (Bees confined in a jar are more likely to sting than free-flying bees. ;-) ) She started with a few and added a few more each time, letting the bees sting her again when the swelling went down.

Re: apitherapy anyone?

I am VERY interested in Apitherapy. I got my own hive two weeks ago and had my daughter's boyfriend administer a sting each to both of my hands (arthritis in both thumbs). I had a pretty strong reaction (cartoon thumbs for a couple of days), but nothing anaphylactic. The itching is incredible and I developed what almost looks like it could be chicken pox; some blistery looking places that oozed the same stuff you see in water blisters, some tinged red. The hands were 9 days ago and I had him sting me again on the top of my right foot (I have arthritic pain on my instep). I took Benadryl, which did nothing and leads me to think that my reaction is not necessarily allergic. My foot swelled up pretty good and developed the same suppurating areas. Once I read about posting photos, I'll upload some.

Re: Reyah Stings me

Self-inflicted apitherapy. While my reaction is pretty severe, I experienced no anaphylactic symptoms. My daughter's boyfriend who is a beekeeper, said his father has had the same reaction to stings with the resulting discoloration of his skin lasting up to a couple weeks. I am 9 days into my stings on my hands and the itching has stopped and I'm just waiting for it to clear up. http://photobucket.com/apitherapy

Re: Reyah Stings me

I think they have improved my symptoms, but in reading about apitherapy, the usual recommended starting amount of stings is around 5. I'm pretty sure I'll have to work up to that amount. I believe the one on my foot has improved the pain on my instep, but the foot is so swollen, it's hard to tell. I have my next two sites picked out and will proceed based on how severe the foot sting becomes.

Re: Reyah Stings me

If I may offer some information for consideration.........

An apitherapist told us to spread the stings around during the sessions and to pick the larger body areas first. This was to avoid a smaller area swelling up too much. So, if our goal was to sting the hand or wrist, we should start with the arm and work down. When a person gets more used to stings they can graduate to the smaller areas. For example, we were told to avoid fingers, toes, hands, feet by stinging up farther and then working down as one builds up to the venom. She started us with a mini sting to the finger to treat fungus. ** Later on in the sessions a sting to the back of the hand resulted in that hand swelled up like a baseball mitt. Eventually 5 stings to the same hand produced almost no swelling. A mini-sting is where the stinger is in for only a brief amount of time.

We were told that eventually when doing multiple stings to an area, to keep the stings 2 inches apart except for certain instances. We were told that the spinal column could have stings placed 1 inch apart and scars could be 1 inch apart. Otherwise, such close proximity was not necessary.

If an area is iced first, the sting pain is usually greatly reduced or eliminated. There are some areas that are always somewhat painful. My palm heel is very tender. I was supposed to sting that area and others for carpal tunnel in the wrist.

Last edited by Bee Bliss; 05-14-2012 at 07:13 PM.
Reason: **Correction due to error

Re: Reyah Stings me

Omigosh, well maybe I'm just going at it backwards? I notice my foot didn't get nearly as bad as my hands. My hands were so itchy, I couldn't control myself at times and I'm sure that is why they look as bad as they do. They are healing up, though. My foot is still kind of cartoon-swollen and I won't try to wear anything other than flip flops for a few days, but it's not nearly as bad. I'm thinking each sting will get better and better. My family thinks I'm crazy, but it's not as bad as the pain from arthritis, so I'll take it and like it.

Re: Reyah Stings me

Bee Bliss, thanks for that link. I watched it and found it very interesting. My husband and I watch all the science-y shows and I first got the idea for apitherapy from a show we saw on the Discovery channel. I wasn't able to find anything out about it then, but there is a ton of info available now. Finding an apitherapist to work with is the tough part. My second sting to the top of my foot didn't get nearly as bad as my hands and the swelling has gone down considerably. I still have the water-blistery rash going on, but it hasn't spread. I am posting pictures on my photobucket account daily tracking my progress. http://photobucket.com/apitherapy

Re: apitherapy anyone?

Yes there are a few of us out there that belong to the American Apitherapy Society.(check out there web site) I have been treating people with sting therapy for a number of years, with good success. We keep a low profile because the A.M.A . wants nothing to do with it. When they fiquir how to controll it and price it ,they will come around. It is very well accepted in other countries. If you drink alcohol, after being stung or take benadril it will mute the affects of the venom.

Re: apitherapy anyone?

I just did some work for a doctor friend and i have bad wrist and he does apitherapy so he put 2 dots on my wrist and one by my thumb and said to place the stings on the dots it burned a little but 10 min later i was feeling a little relief so something is working

Re: apitherapy anyone?

zerbit, I can tell you from personal experiences that:
#1) Those swellings on your photobucket acct. don't necessarily qualify as "cartoon swelling" lol, I used to end up swollen from the toenails to the calf from plantar stings, and as recently as 2 months ago ended up with a 10" wide swelling from a thigh sting. Not to discount your discomfort, I know it's quite irritating, just letting you know that there's not too much to worry about with those
#2) Luckily, the swelling and itching DOES get less as you get stung more, and even more, the duration has started dropping off EXPONENTIALLY for me. My first few stings this year took 2-3 weeks to stop irritating me, but the last one I got (unintentionally) in the back of the neck was better in about 2.5 days.
#3) Benadryl should help you quite a bit, but to be truly effective, you have to take it a full 30mins BEFORE you get stung...takes it a while to take effect.

So far, all of my stings have been administered by simply wearing inadequate protection while handling bees, usually during cut-outs , nonetheless, I am finally starting to notice some improvement in the inflammations from my arthritic joints...especially when the weather turns against me. Hopefully your results will be as good, or better

P.S. For the first several stings, it's highly advised to remove the stinger fairly quickly (15sec to 1 minute), so your body can build tolerance to the venom in gradually increasing doses...it helps lessen the discomfort quite a bit.

Re: apitherapy anyone?

lenny bee, I don't drink, but I'm not crazy about taking Benadryl either-it kind of puts me in a coma. LOL, but when you say it "mutes" the effects of the venom, do you mean it lessens the benefit or takes the edge off the pain/itch?

Re: apitherapy anyone?

robherc,

You are not discount my "suffering" (how can I suffer when I willingly did this to myself? , it's GREAT to know that others have had worse reactions and it's not a reason to stop trying. Since my foot has not reacted as bad as my hands, I'd like to get stung a little earlier than a week and see what the next one does. Regarding the amount of venom, I found that out right away, my hands were both done at the same time, but the stinger was in the left one just a bit longer and the reaction was worse. This is *so* worth it if it will help my arthritis.

Re: apitherapy anyone?

Father-in-law had back pain and, although we offered to sting him, he elected to have a spinal fusion. Hmmm I would rather try the stings first. He knew we had undergone apitherapy but decided that wasn't for him. Ice does a lot to knock down the pain of a sting.

When we first did the apitherapy on ourselves, I started coughing quite a bit and lungs felt bad. I called the apitherapist about that and said I might quit. She strongly insisted that I had something that the lungs were trying to get rid of (thanks to the bee venom) and not to quit. I only stuck with it because of her encouragement and I am glad I did.

BVT is beneficial for many things. Check out beewelltherapy dot com for a partial list.

Zerbit: the Benedryl will both mute the good benefits of the venom and lessen the bad (itching, etc.). Try not to use it unless it is unbearable. Make yourself a rice bag (uncooked rice in material pouch). Heat it up in the microwave and apply to the area.